Seven Dances
by RealityBitesSpontaneously
Summary: A girl whose hatred turned to love. A boy who never gave up. This is the story of James and Lily Potter, told in seven dances.
1. Dance Number One

Hello everyone! :)

The idea for this fanfiction came to me a few days ago at 1:30am. Naturally, I couldn't get to sleep until I had written the first chapter, so here we are. But it was important that I waited until today to publish it, because today is 31st October 2011. Thirty years ago today, Lily and James Potter gave their lives to protect their son, and by doing so, they gave us the Boy Who Lived, who defeated Voldemort and defined our generation. I absolutely love Lily and James, they're probably my favourite fictional couple, and so I'm putting this up today as a tribute to them. Hopefully you will all like it :)

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><p>Life was something that people liked to keep in an ordered fashion. They divided bits of their life into sections, and these sections would be divided into neat little sub-categories comprising of days or years or even decades.<p>

This was how Lily Evans had organised her life- that is, until she met James Potter. Suddenly, the standard units of time were no longer adequate. Instead, Lily preferred to organise her life with James according to seven dances that they had shared, each marking a chapter in their relationship.

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><p><em>Dance number one<br>November 1974  
>Gryffindor common room<em>

"I'm not doing it!"

Lily's emerald eyes were ablaze. She sat with her arms folded sternly across her chest and her jaw stuck out in defiance. She was absolutely livid. To make matters worse, that Potter- that bloody moron, Potter- had the audacity to look at her like she was some sort of amusing spectacle in a circus or a zoo.

"Come on, Evans," he said, his sickening grin widening. "A bet's a bet."

"No." Lily was using a tone of voice that she hadn't used since she was eight years old and Petunia had got to stay up later than her, but she didn't care. She wouldn't let Potter get his way.  
>"Should have used the Unbreakable Vow, mate," Black smirked. He was always smirking. Bloody Black- he was almost as bad as Potter. But not quite. No one could be as horrendously arrogant, self-centered, egotistical and infuriatingly annoying as Potter.<p>

Of all the people in the world, why did it have to be Potter?

"A bet's a bet, Evans," Potter repeated.

"I heard you the first time," Lily snapped, "and I'm still not doing it."

Potter sighed- like everything Potter did, the sigh was much more elaborate than necessary. "Evans, I'm giving you one more chance. You can dance with me, or... I'll read your diary."

Lily scoffed. "You wouldn't. In fact, you couldn't. It says in _Hogwarts: A History_..."

"Your beloved book may have been wrong," Potter smirked.

Suddenly, Lily got that sickening sensation in her stomach that had never been wrong before. Good things never happened when Potter was smirking.

Potter pointed his wand at his bag, which had been strewn in a far corner of the common room, and said, "Accio diary!"

Oh no. Here it came, the small green book which Lily treated with more care and tenderness than some parents showed to their own children.

"How...?" but Lily's sense of impending doom had severely crippled her ability to finish a sentence.

"I'm pretty sure we could treat the good lords and ladies of Gryffindor house to a reading, if necessary," Potter said, smirking again.

A small, rational part of Lily's brain was reciting page five hundred and six of _Hogwarts: A History_- the page where it clearly stated that boys couldn't go into the girls' dormitories, and seeing as Lily's diary never left this area and her dorm mates never knew where she kept it, there was no way Potter and his stupid mates could have got their grubby hands on it.

Sadly, Lily wasn't listening to the rational part of her brain. Alarm bells were ringing. There were things in that diary that could never be revealed...

"Alright, I'll do it," Lily said, and Potter's mouth stretched into that awful smile. "Excellent."

Lily hated the way Potter's eyes greedily scanned her body as she slowly rose from the couch where she had been sat. She hated how Potter towered over her in height, giving him a power that made her uneasy. She hated the way every eye in the room was now fixed upon her. It was making her blush furiously, undoubtedly causing her face to glow a dangerously similar colour to that of her hair. Of course, Potter was loving every second of this. His hand flew to his stupid messy hair, messing it up even more.

Stupid git.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Potter announced. "The other day, Evans here said that she didn't think I would score ten goals in our match against Slytherin, and was even willing make a bet with me about it. If she won, I would leave her alone for the rest of the year. If I won, she would have to dance with me in front of everyone. Well... We all know what happened."

A huge cheer rippled through the room. He would play the hero, wouldn't he? Yes, he was alright at Quidditch. No, that did not automatically mean the sun shone out of his backside. Losing a bet was painfully humiliating enough- Lily didn't like being wrong, and as everyone knew, it didn't happen very often. But now she had got something wrong and as a consequence, she had to be mauled by Potter like she was some sort of prize.

Black started up the music- a particularly slow, overly soppy song by Celestina Warbeck. Lily made two promises to herself- number one, never bet again, and number two, boycott anything to do with Celestina Warbeck.

As Potter grinned greedily and snaked his arm round Lily's waist- an action which aroused jeers and jibbers from the onlooking crowd- Lily wondered if the Cruciatus Curse would be less torturous than this.

The two of them swayed clumsily around and around and around. Lily could feel Potter's hot breath on her face, his hands sliding further and further down her back. Potter was relishing the moment, pulling her closer and grinning that same disgusting grin.

In that moment, Lily had never been more certain of her loathing for Potter. The thought of using "Avada Kedavra!" on him crossed her mind at least eleven times during that one Celestina Warbeck song. She would happily languish in Azkaban as a punishment... Anything would be better than this.  
>Dance number one was the pinnacle of a time when Lily never suspected that in a few short years, she would be dancing with Potter again, and everything would be different...<p>

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><p>What did you think? Please give me your feedback :D Have a great Halloween whatever you're doing!<p> 


	2. Dance Number Two

_Dance number two_  
><em>June 1977<em>  
><em>By the black lake<em>

One of the unspoken rules at Hogwarts was that no one ever questioned why Dumbledore did things. He just did them.

The Summer Ball was one of these occasions. Hogwarts never had dances- the closest things to parties were the Slug Club meetings, which would be quite fun if ninety per cent of them weren't spent listening to Slughorn drone on about some famous wizard or another that he'd become acquainted with. So no one was expecting Dumbledore to suddenly announce that there would be a summer ball the night before the Hogwarts Express ferried them all home again.  
>But no one questioned why Dumbledore did things. He just did them.<p>

As the weather grew hotter, the girls obsessed over dress robes and dates, while the boys speculated about if there would be alcohol there, and whether Sirius Black would smuggle in some Firewhiskey from the Three Broomsticks. Lily didn't care whether there would be alcohol or not- she knew that she would have to be on her best behaviour if she wanted to be considered for Head Girl.

The ball would not be taking place in the Great Hall. About one hundred small, circular tables clothed in pure white were arranged in an area of the grounds overlooking the black lake. It was a beautiful day, and when the ball began at eight o clock, the sun was still present in the flawless blue sky. More than once, Lily heard Slytherins complain about what a disappointment the decorations were, but who cared what they thought? They were never happy with anything. Lily liked the simplicity of it all, and thought that the food was spectacular and the mulled mead tasted divine, which, of course, were bonuses. She was wearing emerald green dress robes- Mary had told her they exactly matched her eyes- and had a good feeling about the night.

Lily was sat at a table with her best friends- Mary, Dorcas, Marlene and Alice, and Frank, of course, because Alice never did anything without Frank anymore. On the next table were Black, Remus and Pettigrew... In that case, where was Potter? He should have been sat there, laughing with his friends... Where was he? Was he with a girl? Lily was half way through the process of scanning the area in search of him when she realised that it shouldn't matter where he was...

"Oi!" Lily had never been more glad to have a train of thought interrupted by Mary. "Come and dance," Mary demanded, and a relieved Lily let herself be pulled along towards the dance floor. As much as she hated to admit it, thinking about Potter was something she was doing more and more of lately, and the thoughts she was having about Potter were taking her into dangerous places.

But the music was loud enough to drown out these perilous thoughts. Lily and her friends danced for a while, singing along to the songs they knew, twirling each other around, bouncing up and down wildly.

Eventually, Lily's feet were aching so much that she wanted to find a chainsaw and chop them off, as it would be much less painful. Stupid high heels. Weaving in and out of the bodies on the dance floor in an attempt to get back to her table, she felt herself collide with something solid.

Potter.

He was wearing nice dress robes- but that was to be expected, really. Everyone knew his parents were swimming in money. And he hadn't even had the decency to do anything with his hair! It was just as much of a bird's nest as ever. Nothing about Potter's appearance was particularly exciting.

Then why did it feel like her heart had just done several somersaults?

Potter smiled in recognition but Lily, wanting to get out of there as quickly as possible, limped over to her table at double speed. She collapsed into her chair and dared herself to look in Potter's direction once more. For some reason, she hoped he would be staring at her.

But he wasn't. He was with someone- a blonde girl who Lily didn't know. The girl looked very striking in her scarlet dress robes. The two of them were dancing and laughing and looking like they were having the time of their lives.

Lily had spent the past few weeks trying to prevent herself from thinking about Potter. Then she had tried to convince herself that those thoughts didn't actually mean anything, and as long as Potter wasn't a Legilimens, they were perfectly harmless.

And she had failed.

Because although these new thoughts about Potter were dangerous, they were never unpleasant. Lily closed her eyes and imagined what it would be like to be the girl who Potter was dancing with. To touch him, kiss him, be with him...

Then it hit her. All of that could have been hers. Potter had practically stalked her from third year up until a few months ago when Mary had started going out with Black, which had forced Lily to be civil to Potter, and vice versa.

New Potter was a vast improvement on Old Potter- but that didn't take much. New Potter didn't show off constantly or hex people in the corridors for the sake of it. He was bearable. More than bearable. It was sod's law, really. The moment the dickhead who fancies you stops being a dickhead is the moment when he also stops fancying you. Life was unfair.

Someone cleared their throat, rudely awakening Lily from her private bit of feeling sorry for herself. Her eyes flew open to find a face, closer than she had been expecting, surveying her with amusement.

"Lily, I know you're not a big party person, but I thought that falling asleep at a ball was beyond even you," Potter said. His smug, lopsided grin reminded Lily that this was Potter- despite the improvements, it was still Potter. She detested herself for wanting anything to do with someone who she'd been so committed to hating.

"I wasn't asleep," Lily said defensively. "I was... contemplating."

"Sounds deep," Potter remarked, and Lily nodded. Why couldn't she think of anything interesting to say? Why did she care? Why did it have to be Potter?

"Are you avoiding me?" Potter suddenly asked.

"Why would I be avoiding you?" Lily asked immediately, and Potter shook his head. "You're so bloody defensive, Evans."

"Sorry," Lily mumbled.

"Don't apologise," Potter said quietly. "I quite like it." Potter ran his hand through his hair, making Lily feel another twinge of self-loathing for allowing herself to be attracted to Potter. Of all the people she could have been attracted to...

"Are you sure you're OK?" Potter asked, and Lily snapped, "why do you care? Just go back to that blonde girl."

Potter didn't smirk, as she was expecting him to, but instead nodded, a strange expression on his face. "Ah. So that's what this is about."

Why did I say that? Lily asked herself, her face burning once more to match her hair.

"Dance with me?" Potter asked quietly.

Lily's body made her decision for her, standing up and allowing Potter to take one of her hands. Slowly, they walked over to the dancefloor. Potter cautiously placed his hands on Lily's waist, and she wrapped her own arms around his neck automatically.

The sun was setting now, and the sky was ablaze with magnificent crimsons and golds. Potter smelled fresh and warmth. His whole body was warm. The song that played was gentle and melodic. Lily didn't know what it was called or who it was by, but she made a mental note to find out. Somehow it was important that Lily's brain recorded every sensory detail. It was like it knew that this was a significant moment, one to be revisited and remembered forever. And still, the two of them revolved slowly on the spot.

"I don't want you to avoid me, Lily," Potter said slowly. "I'm not going to avoid you, James," Lily replied, and Potter's face broke into a huge smile. "You have no idea how long I've been waiting to hear you call me that."

"Have I never called you James before?" Lily asked, and James shook his head. Lily thought of how the J-word had slipped out of her mouth so easily that she didn't realise she had said it, and she smiled. "It suits you," she remarked, and James laughed. "Well, it is my name."

The gap between them had closed without either of them knowing it. James put his lips to Lily's ear and said "you look absolutely breathtaking tonight." Then he came closer, closer, closer...

Lily put a finger to his lips. They felt softer than she had been expecting. "No," she said. "Not yet. One step at a time, eh?"

James nodded. "Of course."

Lily wanted to have accepted that kiss. She wanted to explain to him why she couldn't. She wanted her hands to roam further, and she had a strong feeling that he wanted to do the same. There was a huge spark- so much built up excitement that had come from years and years of whatever it was that James had felt for Lily- but they knew they had to be cautious.

Lily knew that she would have days and weeks and possibly years to come to terms with how she felt about James. At the moment, she was scared that he didn't feel the same way about her as she felt about him, that she was abandoning all of her principles by getting closer to someone who she'd so determinedly detested. But those feelings weren't enough to make her want to let go of him.

So they kept on dancing...

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><p>Thanks to everyone who reviewed my first chapter, everyone who added it to their favourites and alerts, it's nice to know that someone wants to read more of your writing and hopefully this chapter didn't disappoint! I realise it was quite a bit longer than the last one and I just hope it wasn't too waffley. Dance number 3 is in progress, please let me know what you think of this one because getting reviews is almost as good as eating chocolate- which we all know is pretty awesome ;D<p> 


	3. Dance Number Three

These chapters are getting gradually longer! Just thought I would say a big thank you to all the people who have reviewed, favourited and alerted so far, and that because I'm a tad stupid I forgot to put a disclaimer in the first chapter. You probably already guessed this, but I don't own Harry Potter *heart breaks* and I don't own the lyrics to "Dancing Queen" by ABBA, which are featured in this chapter... James and Lily, gingerbread people and ABBA- what could possibly go wrong? :P Anyway, enjoy!

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><p><em>Dance number three<em>

_December 1977_

_The kitchen, 24 Primrose Close_

It was Christmas Eve Eve- Lily's preferred name for the twenty-third of December. Lily was in the kitchen, humming to herself as she emptied the cupboards in search of the ingredients needed to bake gingerbread people. Lily was adamant that the term "gingerbread man" was, in fact, very sexist, as men weren't the only people who wore trousers. Lily's Christmas gingerbread people were somewhat famous in the Evans household- even Petunia took them and ate them without surveying them suspiciously first, as if they had been poisoned. In fact, in December, Petunia would reduce the amount of dirty looks she gave her sister by about forty per cent. It was one of the many things Lily loved about Christmas- along with sleigh rides, the smell of the tree, going to sleep after eating too much food and, of course, being with her family.

The rest of the family were doing some last minute Christmas shopping and wouldn't be back for hours. Lily was measuring some flour into a measuring jug when suddenly her vision was completely cut off by two large hands which covered her eyes, engulfing everything in blackness. Lily's heart rate increased dramatically as the bowl of flour slipped from her hands. Clumsily fumbling about, desperately trying to reach the wand in her pocket, she let out a scream…

"Bloody hell, you could scream for England," a deep voice groaned. Upon hearing that voice, Lily instantly relaxed. The hands released her and she turned around to face her boyfriend of five months, James.

"You'd scream too if that happened to you," Lily said. "How did you get in? And what the hell are you playing at?"

Despite Lily's relief that it was James and not a Death Eater, and the fact that she was glad to see him, she wasn't letting him get away with that ridiculous stunt. She whirled around to face him- and all attempts to maintain dignity by being annoyed with him went out of the window, because he was stood there like a deer caught in the headlights, his expensive looking clothes spattered with flour.

"I used my wand to unlock the door…" James began, then comprehension dawned on his face. He looked down at his clothes and raised one eyebrow.

"Laughing at my misfortune, are we, Miss Evans?" he said, a cheeky smile forming on his lips.

Lily looked up at him, and her favourite mischievous glimmer was dancing in his hazel eyes. "Might be," she replied playfully.

With one step, James had crossed the small kitchen. He wrapped his arms around Lily's waist and looked into her eyes, their faces inches apart. "You still haven't given me a proper greeting," James whispered.

Lily grinned. "Is that a hint?"

"Possibly," James said. Lily was pinned against the kitchen counter, locked in his sturdy grasp. James's lips moved down to Lily's neck, where they nibbled happily. Lily was unable to stop a gasp of pleasure escaping from her lips.

"Stop it," she said reluctantly. "I have to make gingerbread people." Lily turned around, facing the ingredients, which had been neatly lined up on the counter in the order they were supposed to be used. Efficiency was her best friend.

"Gingerbread people?" James said, releasing her but remaining close. "Don't you mean gingerbread men?"

"No, I mean gingerbread people. I find the term 'gingerbread men' horribly sexist," Lily said as she carefully poured bicarbonate of soda into a measuring jug.

"Lily Evans, changing the world one gingerbread person at a time," James smirked. Lily shot him a warning glance. "Behave," she commanded. James directed a salute at her, and she turned away from him so that he wouldn't see her laughing.

"So what will these gingerbread people do?" James asked.

"Do?" Lily asked. It was a rather odd question. Then again, with James, she was learning to expect the unexpected. "Well, they look pretty, then they taste nice when we eat them."

"Are all Muggle ones like that?" James asked in amazement, and Lily nodded, her eyebrows knitted together in concentration. She had added the flour, the butter, the ground ginger and the bicarbonate of soda to a mixing bowl, and was following the instructions of "mix with fingertips until crumbly". This was her favourite part of the process- it was very therapeutic.

"My Auntie Katrina's gingerbread men are wicked," James remarked. He rolled up his sleeves and came to stand behind Lily, resting his chin on her neck and helping her with the mixing. Lily felt a slight tingling sensation every time her fingers brushed against James's.

"Gingerbread people," Lily corrected him.

"She enchants them with spells that make them do backflips. One time, they even formed a choir. We made them sing the Hogwarts school song before we ate them," James said, a note of nostalgia in his voice.

"I can't really compete with that," Lily said, adding sugar and syrup to the bowl.

"You don't need to compete with anything. You're in a league of your own," James said earnestly. Lily's cheeks began to turn a similar colour to that of her hair- but this feeling, associated with embarrassment, was accompanied by a warm, rosy, internal glow that occurred when James, and only James, gave her compliments. Which he did- a lot. But they weren't over-exaggerated like they used to be. They were heartfelt and uplifting and made Lily smile even on the days when the sky was full of grey clouds and the Daily Prophet was full of disappearances.

James decided to be helpful and hand Lily the egg that she needed, but he dropped it and it cracked all over the kitchen tiles. Vanishing the mess with a quick spell, Lily wondered aloud how someone so clumsy could score so many goals for the Gryffindor Quidditch team, and told James that the best way for him to help would be by staying out of the way.

Lily should have known that she wouldn't be left alone for long. She was rolling out the pastry when, out of the corner of her eye, she saw James sneak over to the flour. She knew what was going to happen before it happened.

"Wow, my time travel spell did work. Suddenly it's second year all over again," Lily remarked, as the bits of flour that James was flicking began to hit her.

"Chucking stuff at you is one of those timeless things," James said cheerfully. "I'll still be doing it when I'm Dumbledore's age."

"Carry on chucking stuff at me and you may not live to be Dumbledore's age," Lily replied calmly, but they both knew she was joking. Lily had a much more dynamic relationship with James than she'd had with any of her other boyfriends. They were constantly winding each other up, whether it was purposeful or not- but it was different to how it had been in the past. Neither of them became insulted or irritated by their exchange of banter. It was playful and it was fun, especially when James was losing a battle of wits and decided to kiss Lily in an attempt to make up for it. This tactic had a rather alarming success rate.

By the time the gingerbread people were in the oven, Lily's hair was almost as white as it was red. Lily decided she was going to give as much as she got.

When James wasn't looking, she plunged her hand into the bag of flour, taking a large handful. "James," she said sweetly, "I think I've lost one of my earrings. Will you look under the table for me?"

The unsuspecting James got down on his hands and knees to search under the table for the non-existent earring. Seizing her chance, Lily artfully sprinkled her fistful of flour on James's head.

"You're so dead, " James grinned.

The two teenagers chased each other around the small kitchen, ambushing each other with flour and shrieking with joy. For once, Lily didn't stop to worry about the mess or about anything else in the world. Heart pounding, breath uneven, Lily hadn't recalled feeling this alive since... well, since ever.

The lively opening notes of a pop song started to play on the Muggle radio that was on the window sill:

_You can dance,_  
><em>You can jive,<em>  
><em>Having the time of your life<em>

Suddenly James grabbed Lily by the hand, pulled her closer to him and started to dance with her. Covered in flour from head to toe, the boy and girl broke out into whatever dance moves they felt like doing, regardless of how cheesy they were. They spun each other around and around and around until they became dizzy, laughing until tears were streaming down their faces.

_Ooh see that girl,_  
><em>Watch that scene<em>  
><em>Diggin' the dancing queen<em>

After a while, the laughter became so much that Lily's legs could no longer cope with the effort that standing up required. She tumbled, took James with her and ended up in a catastrophic heap on the floor, with her on the bottom and James on the top.

Something about the contact between her own body and James's made Lily stop laughing. Without really thinking about it, she pulled James closer to her and kissed him, far more urgently than she had ever kissed him before. James immediately responded, his lips coming to life under hers, tasting of all the things she never knew she needed.

Lily wanted more. She needed more. She hungrily tugged at James's T-Shirt. James, getting the message, ended the kiss and looked deep into Lily's eyes. "Are you sure about this?" he asked her. "Because if this is going too fast for you..."

"No," Lily said. Her mind was made up- she had never felt more sure of anything. Being with James made her feel like anything was possible, and she couldn't wait to enter an exciting new world with him. "I'm ready."

And as Lily made love to James for the very first time, she felt chills that were nothing to do with the snow that had began to fall outside.

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><p>I am aware that this was very very very cheesy, but oh well, it was a lot of fun to write :P Chapter 4 is when things begin to get a bit more serious, it should be coming soon! Please review :D<p> 


	4. Dance Number Four

_Dance number 4_

_The dining room, Potter Manor_

_July 1978_

They'd spent their first year as a couple in a beautiful bubble of bliss. Every day, Lily noticed or learned something new about James. She noticed that his voice became full of admiration when he talked about his parents. She noticed that the way he was constantly altering his hair was not, as she had previously thought, a cocky mannerism- but, in fact, a nervous habit. And it wasn't so constant anymore- it was like James and Lily were finally able to be completely comfortable around each other.

Lily tried not to listen to the realistic part of her brain, which rudely informed her that all bubbles burst. But one night, she was forced to believe that it was telling nothing less than the truth.

She'd never been to James's house before that night. She knew that James was quite a lot richer than she was, and for some reason, that had made her dread the evening. When she arrived at the manor, all four storeys of it loomed over her. It had white walls, elegant French windows and immaculately kept front lawns in a vivid shade of emerald green. Her stomach churned as she thought of her own ordinary, semi-detached, three bedroomed house. But all of her worries had melted away when James greeted her with a hug and a kiss, and said to her, "You have achieved the impossible by looking even more beautiful than usual."

James led her into a dining room that could have comfortably fit the whole of Lily's house in it. The room was in complete darkness, but was lit by a large number of candles which had been bewitched to float in the air. In one corner of the room was a grand piano, and in the centre was a long, glass table.

"We have a house elf, but I've cooked our meal for tonight," James announced, after he'd pulled out Lily's chair for her. "Apparently that's more romantic."

Lily chuckled. "Only if you don't burn the house down."

"It will take a lot more than fire to damage this house. It's Sirius-proof," James explained as he brought their meal- a vegetable stew- through to the table.

Once every scrap of the delicious meal had been eaten, Lily gestured to the piano in the corner of the room. "Do you know how to play?" she asked, thinking back to her younger days when she had weekly lessons. These lessons came to a halt when she started Hogwarts, and now she could hardly remember anything her piano teacher had taught her.

"I don't need to," James replied. He casually flicked his wand in the direction of the piano, and it started playing a beautiful, intricate melody.

This time, James didn't ask Lily to dance with him by using words. Instead, he stood up, walked over to her and extended his hand as an invitation. Without hesitating, Lily knotted her fingers through James's and allowed herself to be gently led along the polished marble floor.

Lily loved the piano that was playing in the background, she loved the way James smelled, the way he held her so close as they waltzed around the candlelit room. The candles illuminated his features, making him look even more handsome than usual.

Neither of them were expecting the door to burst open.

The door hit the wall as it flew open, creating an almighty boom that ricocheted around the room. Quick as a flash, James flung himself in front of Lily, holding his arms out and completely concealing her from view.

A high, cold laugh made Lily shiver. "I hope I wasn't interrupting," the intruder said. He was tall and thin and white, with menacing, snakelike red eyes. Lily had never seen a human face that terrified her so much.

Then again, Lord Voldemort wasn't exactly what could be called human.

"What the hell do you want?" James demanded, holding his wand out at Voldemort, who laughed again. Whenever he laughed, Lily felt as if fingernails were being scratched down a blackboard. "What on earth are they teaching you at Hogwarts these days, James Potter? Where are your manners?"

James went rigid. "How do you know my name?"

"I know a lot of things," Voldemort coolly replied. "I know that behind you is Lily Evans, and I wish to speak with the two of you."

"You hurt her over my dead body!" James snarled, and Voldemort laughed again. "That won't be necessary. I am not here to harm either of you- I am simply here to make a proposition. Your Mudblood girlfriend is quite safe."

James pointed his wand at him, but Voldemort was too quick- without saying the incantation, James's wand flew out of his hand. Lily felt sick to the stomach. She knew she should do something useful, but shock had left her frozen solid.

Voldemort carried on as if nothing had happened. "I have reason to believe that the two of you are both very talented wizards. The girl's blood status is unfortunate, but it can be overlooked. Both of you possess many of the qualities that I am looking for."

In her head, Lily saw Muggle families mysteriously vanishing, Mary Macdonald being attacked by Avery and Mulciber, a little first year girl crying because her mother had been killed.

In reality, Lily saw James clench his fists and stand to his full height. "Piss off, we'll never join you," he said firmly.

Voldemort's voice was silky as he fingered his wand. "Then I'm afraid you leave me with no choice."

Lily didn't have to think. She pushed James out of the way, using a physical strength she never knew she had, and in the same movement, she pointed her wand at Voldemort. "Stupefy!" she yelled, and Voldemort was knocked back. Lily cast a Body Bind Curse on his unconscious body before grabbing James's wand and tossing it to him.

"We don't have much time," Lily gasped, and James nodded. He took Lily's hand and they Apparated to an isolated wood. They stood there for a while, catching their breath, holding their wands tightly and not daring to let go of each other. Lily didn't know where they were, and she didn't care. All that mattered was James, and that he was alive and well.

James had told her he loved her so many times, but until he'd shielded her from almost certain death, she'd never really believed him.

Lily looked straight into James's eyes. "I love you," she said.

At those words, James looked truly joyful, in spite of the fact that they might have just missed death by inches. "That's the first time you've ever said that to me."

In that moment, Lily felt incredibly guilty. She realised that James had needed to hear her say those words for a long time, and that he deserved to hear them much sooner.

"I was scared of saying it," Lily admitted. "I've lost my sister, and my best childhood friend. You are more important to me than they ever were, and I... I didn't want to lose you as well."

Lily didn't realise she was crying until James reached out and gently brushed the tears from her cheeks.

"You're not going to lose me," he said quietly. There was an unfathomable expression on his face, making him look older than eighteen. He looked as if he was going to say something, then decided against it. Instead, he pulled Lily into a hug.

Lily sensed that something still wasn't right. "There are better ways of saying I love you than with words," Lily murmured.

James kissed the top of her head. "I know that now," he said simply.

Rain began to fall down, but the two of them didn't move. Each was consumed by their own thoughts. Lily was soaked to the skin. She loved the smell of rain and felt so safe in James's arms that it was hard to imagine how much danger they'd just been in. Everything she needed was here.

Lily and James would go on to escape Voldemort twice more in their lifetimes. The fourth time they encountered him, they wouldn't be so lucky.

But they didn't know that at the time. They also didn't know that back at Potter Manor, the piano was still playing its enchanted melody, waiting for them to finish the dance they had started.

* * *

><p>First of all, I want to apologise for the wait. I know that so far with this story I've been updating once every three days or so, and this time it's been over a week since the last chapter was published. I wanted to get it up, but school had other plans, as did my brain. Which brings me onto my second apology- I'm not really very happy with this chapter for some reason, I had massive writers block and I hope you enjoy what I managed to come up with.<p>

Please let me know what you think by leaving a review, and thanks for all the great feedback so far! :D


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